Family is Part One: Family You are Born Into
by Phoebe Darling
Summary: Renee gets invited to go to Las Vegas. She runs into an old friend. Things don't really go as planned. She has never been one to relax. Getting Home Renee gets involved in James and Piper's life more. Can she ever have a normal life?
1. Chapter: Yet Another Detour

Renee and her brother Horatio finally solve the case. They worked very well with Agent Pride and his team of NCIS agents. It took a month and a half to solve, but they did it.

Renee was buried alive, drugged, flipped, and totaled her truck at that time. She also fell off of their hotel roof. In total, it was ninety feet, but she fell in stages. During the fall, she was electrocuted by her stun gun.

After Renee flipped and totaled her truck, she had to pull her mother's 1966 Cherry-red Mustang Convertible out of a storage unit. She had been stationed nearby when her mother had died.

Renee sold all of her mom's possessions after her mom's death. She just couldn't bring herself to sell her mother's classic car. Pulling the Mustang out of storage, Renee needed to do some minor repairs to get  
her running.

She needed to give the suspension a good lube job, as well as a complete oil change and filter change. Renee also needed to replace the battery and replace all the fluids in the Mustang. That was the bare minimum to get the vehicle running to drive it around town.

Before they start to drive home, Renee needed to get a new truck. They can't drive that far in the Mustang. As she was thinking about that, she gets a phone call that surprised her.

"Is this Staff Sergeant Renee Kerrigan?"

"Yes, may I ask what this is about?"

"Of course. My name is Sean Gleason. I am the CEO of the Professional Bull Riders. Every year at our World Finals in Las Vegas, we honor someone who works for the US Border Patrol or Military. We heard about what happened to you and what you have done for this country and would love for you to be that person."

"We will fly you and a friend to Vegas and put you up in a nice hotel, and you will come every night to our event. On championship Sunday, we will honor your service."

Renee knew that horses that she trained as the United States Border Patrol was sent to Vegas as the Border Patrol Color Guards.

"Ok, of course, I'll be honored. When is it?" Renee asked Sean.

"It is the first week of November. I realize that it is short notice."

"I don't have a car. Is there any way that my brother and I can come now? The event is next week."

"Of course, you can come now and watch the Touring Pro division world finals. That starts in two days."

"I will need to bring my canine. She is the best-trained canine in the world. A bomb could go off right next to her, and she will not move a muscle. I never go anywhere without Echo."

"Echo is more than welcome to come. Is she your current canine partner?" Sean asked the MDPD officer.

"Echo is my current canine with MDPD."

"I will work out the logistics of bringing you all to Vegas. I will be calling you back shortly. Good Bye till then."

Hanging up her phone, Renee turns to her brother. Horatio was looking at his sister with a very confused look on his face.

Quickly telling Horatio, "change in plans. I'll send Patriot to James by air. You are I were invited to the PBR world finals in Vegas where I am to be honored."

Before her brother could respond, Renee is on the phone with James working on sending the puppy back home."

James was more than happy with that idea. He did ask if the breeder has a female puppy that he could buy to give to Piper for an early Christmas present."

"Yes, he as two females. Let me talk to the breeder. I'll call you back."

Renee then called Jack McKenna to ask him about also getting a female for a friend as well as planning on Patriot's flight home. Since Jack was donating Patriot to the MDPD as a forensic's detection canine, he sold Renee a female that looked like a mini Echo.

The one distinguishing feature between Echo and the pup was that Echo had two blue eyes, and the puppy had one blue eye and one brown eye. Heterochromia in animals is far more common than heterochromia in humans.

Calling James back, Renee was very excited. She did ask that she be the one to give Piper the puppy. She did have a compelling reason behind the request.

"If I give Piper the puppy, it would be a bonding experience for both of us. I can even offer to help teach her how to train the dog. If she wants me to, I can teach her how to use the dog's natural instinct."

"The breed was created to hunt wild boar. I remember training my first dog when I was seven. It was a moment I can't forget."

Now James wanted to give Piper the puppy, but he caved, "Of course, you can give Piper the little puppy," James tells Renee.

"Hang on the breeder is calling me back," Renee tells James.

"The puppies will fly out tomorrow afternoon. Have someone pick the puppies from the airport at 3:00 PM EST," Jack says, hanging up the phone.

Quickly Renee calls a friend from the Corps. She needed a little extra help. Tobias McGraw owns the local paintball and gun range. His brother had killed Piper's mom more than a decade before.

Tobias' middle son Timothy had shot Piper ten months before, and he feels that he owes the girl. When Renee told him the predicament, he agreed to pick up the puppies and keep them until Renee got back.

Now Renee and Horatio can just wait for the phone call from Sean Gleason about their flight to Vegas. Renee was very excited. She has wanted to go to a PBR event since the organization was founded in 1992. It just never worked out before now.

The two of them didn't need to wait too long. The CEO of the PBR called pretty quick.

"We have you flying to Vegas tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. A taxi will be waiting for you at the airport. Echo has her own ticket as a working dog."

"Ty Murray and I will meet you the following morning to take you to the Arena, and show you your seats and take you behind the chutes to meet and greet the riders and the bullfighters. They all can't wait to meet you and Echo."

Horatio had heard the whole phone call and ran downstairs to keep their rooms for one more night. They had a flight to get ready for and an event Renee had waited for twenty-seven-years to attend.


	2. Chapter: Dreams Come True

The flight to Vegas went very smoothly. Renee and Horatio met the breeder Jack at the NCIS headquarters to pick up the two puppies and take them to the airport.

She handed off the puppies to the airline personnel to send the puppies to Miami. When the pups were handed off, Renee and Horatio boarded their plane with Echo to Las Vegas.

By this time in her life, Echo was a professional at flying on an airplane. The other passengers seemed to enjoy having the friendly police canine on board. Renee and Horatio had requested sitting in the emergency exit row since it had more legroom. They wanted Echo to have more room to stretch. Being in the air for three and a half hours was a long time for Echo to be still.

Disembarking the plane and arriving at the baggage claim, the three officers were greeted by a limo driver to take them to the New York New York Hotel and Casino.

Renee wanted to have a room as high up as she could. The hotel register put Renee and Echo up on the nineteenth floor in room 1966. Horatio was in 1968. Renee thought that it was rather funny since her classic  
Mustang was a 1966 Cherry Red convertible.

The rooms were connecting rooms, so Renee and Horatio kept the adjoining door open at all times. With a king-size bed in both rooms and the door open, Echo had two beds to choose from to sleep in. The following morning the three of them went down to Il Fornaio Italian Cuisine.

Renee always orders the same item at every breakfast restaurant that has it. She always gets Granola. Renee also orders Echo scrambled eggs. Horatio got eggs and sausage. During breakfast, Renee's phone went off. It was Sean Gleason calling. He wanted to know if Renee and Horatio were up.

"Hello, Renee? Are you and your brother ready to meet us? Can you meet us at the Italian restaurant for breakfast?"

"Horatio and I are already there. We woke up at 8 am and went down for breakfast at 9 am. It is only 9:30 am so just come join us. Oh, Echo is with us," Renee tells a curious Sean.

"Ty and I will be right down," Sean says to a visibly excited Renee.

Five minutes after hanging up the phone, Renee was introduced to Ty Murray. Renee has wanted to meet Ty since she was eight years old. She has been a fan of his since he was still in the rodeo as a bull rider. Echo must have sensed that Renee was anxious since the canine approached Ty first, begging for a chin scratch.

Echo was a very good ice-breaker. The police canine was very social when she didn't have her vest and badge on. Ty was immediately smitten with the dog. Echo herself was more than happy to get pets and scratches from her new friends.

Renee was eager to meet Ty. The four humans sat at a table to talk about what to expect at the event. Renee wanted to ask the CEO and Founder a question.

"If the riders are at South Point Casino for the week, can Echo and I go down and give the riders a demo of what her and I do?"

A question that both Ty and Sean answer with a resounding, "yes."

Renee, Horatio, and Echo leave Ty and Sean to go check out the Arena before it opens up to the public.

Walking into the Arena, Renee noticed a Border Patrol booth. Without giving away that she used to work for them, she asks them an innocent  
enough question.

"As far as you know, who is the most successful canine unit that ever worked for Border Patrol."

"Grisham, what's that famous canine officer's name again? You know we were just talking about her." The only female agent asked her colleague.

"Sergeant Kerrigan, why?" Grisham asked his much younger co-worker.

"Kerrigan," the agent says, responding to Renee's question.

"Sergeant Renee Kerrigan, former Marine, and CBP agent. This is my current canine Echo." Renee extends her hand in greeting.

"Can I borrow some of your canine training equipment to do a demo for the bull riders at South Point?" Renee asks the border agents.

"Of course, you can borrow our bite suit." The agents quickly respond.

"I'll pick it up tomorrow morning." Renee walks away from the table and her brother. Leaving Echo with her brother, Renee runs ahead to the Marines table.

The Marines were there with a table. They were challenging anyone to a pull-up contest. The Marines wanted to see if anyone was as strong as a Marine.

As Renee approached the first Marine she saw, she asked a curious question about their contest.

"What is the highest pull-ups number that you heard of?"

"The most I've seen is a hundred. The most I've heard of someone doing was five hundred, but I think that number is greatly exaggerated."

"How many do you think that I can do?" Renee further questions the Marine.

"You, I say twenty." The young Marine tells a relaxed Renee.

"Bet you, I can do two hundred." Renee challenges the Marine.

"I'm probably going to regret it, but you are on." The Marine answered Renee's challenge.

Without another word, Renee starts to do pull-ups. Another Marine at the table was counting out loud. When the Marine was up to sixty, Horatio and Echo finally approach the table.

When the Marine counting got to two hundred, Renee drops to the ground. She is not even out of breath.

"Are you done showing off. You are the one who set the record." Horatio tells his sister.

Upon hearing that, the Marine all turn to face Renee.

"Marine Staff Sergeant Renee Hope Kerrigan. The five-hundred number is not the most I have done. It was really closer to six-hundred," Renee introduces herself to the Marines.

Shaking Renee's hand, the Marines stood dumb-founded.

Before she walks away, she asks them a parting question. "Are you guys at South Point at the Western Gift Expo?"

"Yes, are you coming to do your record pull-ups?" The Marines ask Renee.

"Yes, I'll be there tomorrow morning," Renee yells her answer to the question without turning around.

Renee and her two followers leave T-Mobile Arena before the civilians arrive. The three of them quickly walk back to the hotel room to get some things before they go to the event.

The Real-Time Pain Relief Touring Pro Division World Finals in the week before the PBR World Finals are. It is the week before, but some riders in the PBR World Finals also ride in the Touring Pro Division.

Renee, Horatio, and Echo were escorted into the Arena before anyone else got there. Renee wanted to get behind the chutes and meet the stock contractors and the bullfighters.

Growing up in South Texas, she knew Shorty Gorham from high school. She did doubt that he would recognize her. It had been twenty years since they had seen each other.

The Bullfighters got there before the riders but after the contractors. The contractors got to the Arena hours before since they needed to get the bulls ready for the night's event.

Much to Renee's surprise, Shorty recognized her. He did call her by her grade school nickname, "Smidge." Renee was given that nickname in elementary school since she was so much smaller than the other kids her age.

Renee hated the nickname, but Shorty was the only person that she allowed to call her that. In school, if anyone else called her that she would actually beat them up.

She never got in trouble since no one would complain. It would be too embarrassing to admit to getting beat up by a girl who was as small as her.

"Smidge, or should I call you Nae, I haven't seen you since high school," Shorty tells Renee.

"I was surprised when Ty told me that you are one of the bullfighters. H, this is Shorty, a schoolmate of mine."

"Shorty, this is my half brother Horatio. Oh, this is my canine partner Echo." Renee introduced her brother to her old friend. She could not believe that she almost forgot Echo.

"Hello, Horatio. I've known Renee since PreK." Shorty shakes Horatio's hand. He then leans down to give the police dog a little scratch on her chin.

"What have you been up too since high school?" Shorty asks Renee.

"I was a Staff Sergeant with the Marines. I worked for three years with the Border Patrol. Then I transferred to Miami-Dade Police. I was and am a police canine officer."

"I already know that you have been a bullfighter since high school. You were doing that since the high school rodeo days."

When Shorty heard that, he asks his friend another question. "Why are you here?"

"Well, Sean Gleason called me and invited me as a guest of honor."

"That makes sense," Shorty tells himself.

"Come with me. I want to introduce you and Echo to the rest of the group." Shorty pulls Renee along. Horatio and Echo bring up the rear.

"Stay here. I just need to check to see if everyone is dressed before you come into the locker room."

Shorty leaves Renee and her brother alone in the hall for a few minutes. Quickly returning and bringing the three of them into the locker room.

"Hey, guys. Come here. I want to introduce a high school friend of mine. She is the guest of honor."

Frank Newsom was the first to stand to greet the newcomers. He was quickly followed by Jesse Byrne, Cody Webster, and Flint Rasmussen. It didn't take long for the group of scarred up people to begin comparing scars.

Renee did have everyone beat when she showed them her back. She was very open about how she got the scars.

"Holy cow, how'd you get that scar?" Frank asks her as his jaw hung loose.

"I was a POW for five months. During that time, the Taliban tortured me by burning me with acid. I eventually broke free. I ended up killing sixty terrorists getting to freedom. The Taliban put a price on my head after. That is why I had to leave the Marines."

The bullfighters just stood there, speechless.

"I was always tough. Just ask Shorty. All the kids were scared of me. I was the only female competing in the varsity wrestling team. I could throw the boys twice my size. I only weighed ninety-pounds, but I could throw guys weighing one-hundred-eighty-pounds."

Pointing at Shorty, Renee goes on. "You were only on the high school rodeo team as the fighter. Even back then, you fought the bulls. I was the star athlete for the surf, swim, softball, volleyball, and wrestling teams. As well as a safety rider, bareback rider, and bull rider for our high school rodeo team."

While in the locker room with the bullfighters, Renee asked them some questions.

"Will, you guys, be at South Point Casino tomorrow? Echo and I are doing a demo. I am going to need someone to wear the bite suit. Echo might knock you off your feet, but otherwise, you will not get hurt."

"It's just a little nerve-wracking having a police dog chasing you even if it is just pretending."

Echo was busy making social rounds. She was walking up to everyone in the locker room to get belly rubs and chin scratches. Looking over at Echo, Renee continues talking.

"Echo is social and relaxed until she has her vest and badge on. That or until I tell her the protect command."

"I'll do it since I know you and I trust you," Shorty tells Renee.


	3. Chapter: South Point Shenanigans

The following morning was the first day of the Touring Pro Division World Finals. It started out like every other day in Las Vegas. Echo woke Renee up for her morning walk. When they returned from the potty walk, Renee took a shower and went to wake up Horatio.

The three of them went to the restaurant for breakfast. After eating is when things got a little different. Renee left her brother and Echo at the restaurant so that Renee could run to the T-Mobile Arena to grab the Border Patrol bite suit.

With the bite suit in hand, the three of them called a taxi to head to South Point Casino to do the demo and hang out with the bull riders.

As they approached the casino, Renee noticed the vast amount of bullpens with bulls inside of them. She quickly unrolled the window. She wanted to smell the bulls. She grew up on a farm.

Her mother was a French teacher at the local college, but they had a farm with cows, goats, horses, and chickens. She greatly missed the smell of the cows. They had about a hundred head of cattle.

Taking a deep breath, Renee looked over at her brother.

"What, H. I grew up with cows, and I miss the smell of them."  
Her brother didn't say a word. He just shook his head and chuckled softly.

While in the Taxicab, Horatio could hear his sister talking, but he couldn't understand the language that she was speaking.

Curious, he asks her a question.

"What language are you speaking out of curiosity?"

Renee's answer was not what her brother was expecting.

"Portuguese, a lot of the riders are Brazilian, and they speak Portuguese in Brazil. I have a mind for languages, as I am sure you are aware of. In fact, I speak six languages besides English. I speak French, Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Dari, and Pashto. Picking up Portuguese was easy since I already speak French and Spanish."

"This way, I can talk to the riders, and I will not need a translator to do it. I've been learning it for the last year. You know I have insomnia, so to past the time at night, I have been learning Portuguese."

Now Horatio couldn't argue with his sister since he only speaks really English. Conversational Spanish, but he is by no means fluent in it.

Pulling up to the casino, neither Horatio nor Renee knew where they were going. Just as Renee was approaching a casino worker to ask, they both heard a familiar voice.

Turning around, they find Shorty. Shorty and Renee were best friends since preschool. As they were walking, the two friends started talking about the old days.

"Do you still sit at the bottom of the swimming pool just to mess with people? Do you still make people more scared of you than any bully?"

"I remember when we were in third grade in PE. The new kid who was a bully was mad at you for beating him in both wrestling and martial arts.  
So during the month of swimming, he held you down in the pool until you stopped moving."

"The teacher came in after I pulled you out. I was doing CPR on you, and the teacher asked the class who it was that did it. Without hesitation, everyone pointed out the new kid out. They were more scared of you than the bully."

"Since then, you trained yourself to hold your breath for longer than anyone else. You would stop moving, and they thought that you passed out. Only for you to come up out of the water and land a solid left hook on them." Shorty finishes talking to Renee and waits for her reaction.

"Yes, I still do that. I scared my brother more times than anyone else. I do remember you saving me. I also remember when I saved you.

Remember when you were getting attacked by my bull in our Junior year in high school. He wanted to kill you so bad. I had to get on my horse and rope him. Sierra and I needed to drag him away. He was mighty pissed that he couldn't get to you."

"Sierra died two months ago. She ended up serving five years at the border and eight years with New Orleans PD. She fell down in her pasture and broke her shoulder. They needed to put her down."

"That mare saved your life and my life when I was fourteen years old. She attacked a mountain lion that wanted to kill me. She saved many at the border and NOPD." Renee finished talking to Shorty.

Finishing the conversation as they get to the location of the Western Gift Expo. Shorty left the two others. He needed to go to Flint's show Outside the Barrel.

"Where is the Marine's booth?" Renee asked the greeter stationed at the entrance of the Expo.

"Go left and all the way to the end of the row. It is just around the corner. You can't miss it." The greeter finished with a question.

"Are you here to do the police dog demo? Ty told us you'd be here yesterday afternoon."

"Yes, I guess that the bite suit gave it away. That isn't for two hours, though. Thought that I might go over and do the Marine's pull-up challenge."

"I was a Marine, and I was the one who set their record for pull-ups. For the record, I am a little out of shape, but I know that I can do at least five hundred pull-ups and eight hundred push-ups."

She brought Horatio and Echo with her to the Marines booth. Renee starts to do pull-ups. One of the older Marines started to count out loud. After a while, a crowd had built up around the table.

When the counter was up to four hundred, everyone in the building must have been in the crowd: all the riders and the fans were there counting Renee's pull-ups.

When everyone reached five hundred, Renee drops down to the ground. By this time, she is slightly out of breath.

While Renee was doing the pull-ups, Flint Rasmussen approached  
Horatio to talk to him.

Renee had noticed that happen but had no idea what they talked about since Flint had left before she had finished her challenge.

"What did Flint want?" Renee asked Horatio, but he never answered her question.

The time of the demo was upon them. Shorty came out wearing the bite suit. Renee had already told him what to do and how to get Echo playing her favorite game.

When Renee gave the dog the protect command, Echo ran after the bullfighter. Shorty may have been used to a bull chasing him, but that is nothing compared to a police dog chasing him.

He knew it was coming, but the dog's bite and strength still took him by surprise. Echo hitting him felt like getting hit by a Mack Truck. Shorty got knocked down, and Echo was holding on, and he couldn't shake her.  
After a few minutes of Echo biting and shaking, Renee walks up and tells the police canine the release command.

"Aus, Echo… Aus." A command that the dog responded to immediately.  
With Echo, playing with her rope toy was her reward. Renee helps her friend up. "A huge thank you to Shorty Gorham," Renee tells the crowd as she helps her friend up and out of the bite suit.

As the crowd dissipates, the two friends talk candidly about what happened.

"Echo can hit harder than a lot of the bulls I fight. Honestly, I would rather fight a bull any day than face a police dog. You can avoid the bulls to a point, but you can't avoid that fur missile." Shorty tells his friend.

Getting to his feet, Shorty looks at his old friend. By this time, the day was almost over. This was going to be the first night of the Touring Pro Division of the PBR World Finals.

"What are you guys doing for tonight's event?" Shorty asks Renee.

"Well, Horatio, Echo, and I were planning on watching it from the stands," Renee responds to her childhood friend.

"That will not do. You guys will be my guests for the next week," Shorty tells Renee.

"Do you have a pair of boots and Wrangler Jeans like you always use to wear?" Shorty casually asks his friend.

"No, since joining the Marines, I only wear cargo pants and combat boots. Why?"

"You can't wear that to a rodeo event, Smidge," Shorty says, winking at his friend.

"I just need to take you to Boot Barn to get you a pair of boots and jeans for the week. You too, Horatio."

Shorty was the first to comment on the fact that H was wearing a casual suit every day.

Walking into Boot Barn, Renee was surprised by the sheer size of the building.

Renee was never a picky girl. She wore what was comfortable. Due to her small size, it was hard for her to find her size in the woman's department. Walking into the junior section, she quickly found her size.

Renee was an x-small in tops and a size 14/16 junior pants. She was a size 7 in boots, so that was the easy part of this excursion.

Renee quickly settled on a pair of black fatbaby boots by Ariat. She picked out a black pair of Wrangler jeans and a couple of long-sleeved button-down plaid western shirts. Adding a black leather belt to match her jeans and boots.

Horatio picked a pair of black wrangler jeans that looked a bit more dress than the other ones. His boots were black dress boots.


	4. Chapter: Touring Pro World Finals Week

The three finished up the Boot Barn right before the event started. Shorty brought Renee, Horatio, and Echo in through the contestant's entrance and took them to his seats he had reserved for himself. Tonight he was asked to be a bullfighter. They needed a bullfighter since one of the Touring Pro Division fighters had come down sick.

"Here, you guys sit here. They need me to bullfight tonight." Shorty nods to his friend.

He left the two others to watch what was happening on the other side of the chutes.

Before the opening ceremonies, Renee turns to her brother to tell him a story about Shorty. Echo was already settled down on the floor.

Renee wanted to tell James about some key stories to her life.

"In high school, I was a safety rider for my high school rodeo team. Shorty was a bullfighter. I was also the supplier of the bulls we used in the high school rodeo circuit in our area. Well, I raised the bulls, so I recognized when one of the bulls began to bellow out. I knew it was the one bull you never wanted to hear. He hated everybody but me."

"You needed to clip his gate closed since he knew how to open the gates if you didn't. I guess a new student forgot to do that before they left for the day. It was just Shorty and me at the rodeo grounds. Sierra and I were on the other side of the Arena and around the corner. I had just left Shorty in the Arena. I knew his back was turned to the bullpens since he was putting the barrels away."

"I needed to get to Shorty before the bull got there. I was not quick enough. Getting around the corner in time to see the bull just pounding on him."

"I threw my lariat around the bull and dragged him back to his pen. Getting back to Shorty, I found him not conscious. As the crow flies, we were five miles from the hospital. I knew that due to the remote location and the windy roads, it would take an ambulance about forty minutes to get there."

"I also knew that it would only take me fifteen minutes to get him to the hospital if Shorty and I rode double on Sierra. I took that ride every day. On one side of the high school rodeo grounds, is the small craft airport. On the other side of the airport is the farm. The hospital is about three miles past the farm on a diagonal line. The quickest route there was the deer trail I took when I was boar hunting or trail riding."

"Putting Shorty over the front of my saddle, I remounted and rode to the hospital faster than I have ever ridden before."

"Shorty was in a coma for a few days. The bull we pulled from the circuit since he did attack Shorty on purpose."

"That is how I saved Shorty Gorham's life."

Renee went on and told James about the time at Shorty had saved her life when they were in the third grade.

"When Shorty and I were in the third grade, our school had optional PE for our grade. The school didn't do your normal PE sports. Swimming, Diving, Firearm safety, Baseball, Wrestling, Karate, Football, Volleyball, and Surfing were the sports offered. They also had a high school rodeo team."

"My mom had me doing a lot of those sports outside of school. We had just finished the Wrestling and Karate months, and we just started the swimming month."

"The teacher left us all in the pool area when she took a sick kid to the nurse. While the teacher was out, the new kid in school pushed me into the pool. He jumped in after me only to grabbed me and hold me down. He was mad at me since I had beat him up in wrestling and karate the past two months. He couldn't stand being beat by a girl."

"Well, I eventually stopped moving when I passed out. The bully let me go and got out of the pool. Shorty jumped in and pulled me out. Placing me on the ground, he started CPR. His mom had taught it to him for emergencies."

"The teacher came back to see Shorty doing CPR on me. She demanded to know who did it. No one said anything until I coughed up the water. Then and only then did the other students ID the bully."

"They were more afraid of what I would do to them for not telling than they were of him for saying."

"Thinking about it, I was the reason that bullying was not a problem at my school while I was there. Every year there was a new bully. Every year the former bullies would not say anything. They just waited for the new one to make their move. I was obviously the easy target from their perspective."

"The former bullies knew better than mess with me. I always held my ground. I never backed down. The new one would take a swing at me or someone else. I would kick their ass, so to speak."

"After that one incident, the bully would stop bullying, and peace would return. If the bully initially went after another kid, not me, then the kid that the bully went after and the bully would end up being friends. If the bully went after me, then we would end up being friends. More often than not, the bully went after me since I was so much smaller than everyone else. That is how I got my nickname of Smidge. I only let Shorty call me that, though."

A couple of days went by without incident. Renee, Horatio, and Echo would meet Shorty for breakfast before they went to the Western Gift Expo.

Every day they would spend a couple of hours at the Expo either hanging out at the Marine booth or doing police dog demos.

The day after Renee did the pull-ups, she went to the Marines' booth and challenged them to a push-up contest. She knew perfectly well that she could work them under the table. Renee could do eight hundred without batting an eye. A thousand push-ups was doable, but it was hard for her.

When the Marine that was counting was up to a hundred push-ups, the other contestants had given up. Renee just kept going. Again a crowd had formed. Again Flint approached her brother to talk to him. Everyone was watching her riders and fans alike. All of the viewers were counting out loud with her. Renee stopped at five hundred. She was not even out of breath. After all the crowd dispersed, Renee turned to talk to the Marines.

"How many can you do anyway. We both know that you could have kept going?" A younger Marine asked Renee.

"I can easily do eight hundred. The max that I can do would be a thousand, but that is hard for me to do," Renee answered the young Marine.

After the push-ups, Shorty approached Renee to ask her a question.

"We have some practice bulls. Do you want to ride one? We both know that you are a good bull rider. In fact, you are the only female bull rider that I know about."

"Well, I don't know about that. I haven't done it in twenty years. I will do the mechanical bull first, and if I ride that successfully then I will do a real one."

Walking up to the mechanical bull, Renee jumped on. Looking at her brother, she could see his uneasiness. Quickly dismounting, Renee walks over to her brother to reassure him.

"It's fine, H. I was on my high school rodeo team. I was the only female bull rider and safety rider in our region. I was really good, and it's like riding a bike. I got this. Just hold Echo."

Going back to the mechanical bull, Renee remounts and gets into position. Just like old times, Renee nods to Shorty, and he flips the switch.

Renee was shockingly good. Since women's center of balance is their hips, you would think that more women would do it. However, most women do not have the upper body strength needed to stay on the bull.

Renee did have the upper body strength. She maintained her balance even on the highest level.

By the end of her ride, she did have a crowd of bull riders watching her. Renee rode for more than five minutes. Eventually, Shorty stopped the bull, and Renee simply jumped off to a roar from the crowd.

When Renee got off the bull, some of the riders told her that she had just done a ninety point ride at least. They then asked her if she was going to ride one of the practice bulls for fun.

Looking at her old friend and then her brother. Renee nods to Shorty then goes to talk to her brother.

"H, I am going to ride one of the practice bulls. Everyone rides the practice bulls. I have done it a thousand times before. I am very good at it, as you have just seen. In high school, I did bronc riding, bull riding, and safety riding for my school's rodeo team. I have yet to be bucked off by either a bull or a bronc."

Horatio was apprehensive, but he relented, giving his sister a silent nod of approval.

Renee then followed the riders out to the practice arena. She climbed into the chutes like old times. It took her a little longer than the guys to strap in. After all, she was a little rusty.

After a few minutes, Renee nods to the arena guys who swing the door open. Her ride was the stuff that dreams are made of. She rode perfectly. When the buzzer went off, the bull stopped bucking. Slowly and calmly, the bull walked over to the gate. It was almost as if the bull didn't know Renee was still up there.

Shorty just walked up to the bull and pulled the flank strap off and helped Renee dismount the bull.

A couple of days went by without incident. Renee, Horatio, and Echo would meet Shorty for breakfast before they went to the Western Gift Expo.

Every day they would spend a couple of hours at the Expo either hanging out at the Marine booth or doing police dog demos.

The day after Renee did the pull-ups, she went to the Marines' booth and challenged them to a push-up contest. She knew perfectly well that she could work them under the table. Renee could do eight hundred without batting an eye. A thousand push-ups was doable, but it was hard for her.

When the Marine that was counting was up to a hundred push-ups, the other contestants had given up. Renee just kept going. Again a crowd had formed. Again Flint approached her brother to talk to him. Everyone was watching her riders and fans alike. All of the viewers were counting out loud with her. Renee stopped at five hundred. She was not even out of breath. After all the crowd dispersed, Renee turned to talk to the Marines.

"How many can you do anyway. We both know that you could have kept going?" A younger Marine asked Renee.

"I can easily do eight hundred. The max that I can do would be a thousand, but that is hard for me to do," Renee answered the young Marine.

After the push-ups, Shorty approached Renee to ask her a question.

"We have some practice bulls. Do you want to ride one? We both know that you are a good bull rider. In fact, you are the only female bull rider that I know about."

"Well, I don't know about that. I haven't done it in twenty years. I will do the mechanical bull first, and if I ride that successfully then I will do a real one."

Walking up to the mechanical bull, Renee jumped on. Looking at her brother, she could see his uneasiness. Quickly dismounting, Renee walks over to her brother to reassure him.

"It's fine, H. I was on my high school rodeo team. I was the only female bull rider and safety rider in our region. I was really good, and it's like riding a bike. I got this. Just hold Echo."

Going back to the mechanical bull, Renee remounts and gets into position. Just like old times, Renee nods to Shorty, and he flips the switch.

Renee was shockingly good. Since women's center of balance is their hips, you would think that more women would do it. However, most women do not have the upper body strength needed to stay on the bull.

Renee did have the upper body strength. She maintained her balance even on the highest level.

By the end of her ride, she did have a crowd of bull riders watching her. Renee rode for more than five minutes. Eventually, Shorty stopped the bull, and Renee simply jumped off to a roar from the crowd.

When Renee got off the bull, some of the riders told her that she had just done a ninety point ride at least. They then asked her if she was going to ride one of the practice bulls for fun.

Looking at her old friend and then her brother. Renee nods to Shorty then goes to talk to her brother.

"H, I am going to ride one of the practice bulls. Everyone rides the practice bulls. I have done it a thousand times before. I am very good at it, as you have just seen. In high school, I did bronc riding, bull riding, and safety riding for my school's rodeo team. I have yet to be bucked off by either a bull or a bronc."

Horatio was apprehensive, but he relented, giving his sister a silent nod of approval.

Renee then followed the riders out to the practice arena. She climbed into the chutes like old times. It took her a little longer than the guys to strap in. After all, she was a little rusty.

After a few minutes, Renee nods to the arena guys who swing the door open. Her ride was the stuff that dreams are made of. She rode perfectly. When the buzzer went off, the bull stopped bucking. Slowly and calmly, the bull walked over to the gate. It was almost as if the bull didn't know Renee was still up there.

Shorty just walked up to the bull and pulled the flank strap off and helped Renee dismount the bull.


	5. Chapter: Jesse For The Save

The third day of the Touring Pro division ended with a tie. Renee had been going to the sports medicine locker room every night to use the hydrotherapy after each event. She would leave Echo with her brother when she would go to the Arena.

The third night was when she ran into Shorty, who was with the other bullfighters. They were busy enjoying the Arena's steam bath.

With the four bullfighters in the steam room, Renee slid into the hydrotherapy tub. She was enjoying the tub when she nodded off.

Inside the steam room, Shorty heard a splashing sound. The others told him that Renee was probably just moving around in the tub.

Shorty, however, knew Renee, and he knew that she just floated in hot tubs. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was not right.

He left his friends to just check on his best friend. Walking out of the steam room, he noticed that Renee's head seemed to be dropped. He didn't think that his friend was conscious.

As he approached Renee, he tripped over a bench. He tumbled quite a ways. When he was finally able to catch himself, he knocked over Renee's purse and clothes. A pill bottle rolled out and stopped on the side of the hydrotherapy tub. Without looking at the label, Shorty just slid the bottle back in his friend's purse as he goes to check on her.

At that moment, Renee gasped for air. She may have gasped for air, but she was not moving. Shorty still had a bad feeling about what just happened. Walking up to Renee, he gently shook his friend's shoulder.

"Nae... Nae... you okay?" He asked his childhood friend. When he touched her shoulder, Renee's head lolled limply backward.  
Shorty was surprised.

"Frank! Jesse! Flint! Help, get out here. It's Renee," Shorty was yelling for help from the only people in the area.

It only took a few seconds for the three other bullfighters to get out to the locker. By the time they got out, Shorty was still trying to get Renee out of the tub.

"She's not breathing. Get Tandy, Jesse. Go get Tandy," Shorty tells the youngest of the group to run and get the doctor of the PBR.

"Frank, Flint, help me. We need to get her out. I need to start CPR, but I can't do that in the tub," He tells the remaining bullfighters.

The locker room was on the other side of the Arena. Jesse had to run to the doctor's office. Tandy's assistant tried to stop Jesse from going into the office since Tandy was talking to a bull rider. Jesse ignored the protest from the assistant. Renee didn't have any time to spare.

Barging into the office, he sees Tandy talking to Chase Outlaw. Jesse was a little out of breath, so it took a few moments to catch his breath.

"What is it, Jesse? I'm talking to Chase. Can it wait?" Tandy asks an out of breath Jesse Byrne.

"No, it can't wait. It's Renee. She was in the hydrotherapy tub, and she stopped breathing. Shorty sent me. He is trying to get her breathing on her own. Renee needs you," Jesse tells the doctor.

Without another word, Jesse, Chase, and Tandy took off running to the locker room. Before Tandy left, he grabbed his medical bag. He didn't know what he would find.

Meanwhile, back in the locker room, Shorty was still doing CPR on an unresponsive and unconscious Renee.

It took a few minutes for Dr. Tandy and the others to get to where Shorty and Renee were.

Running into the locker room, Tandy sees Shorty doing chest compressions on Renee. The doctor looked closer at Renee's chest.

"Her chest is not rising like it should," Tandy tells himself. Running to Renee's side, he quickly takes out a ballpoint pen.

Quickly he hollows it out, so it is just an empty tube. As he does that, he looks over to see that the other's had no idea what was going on.

"Knife, I need a knife. Renee's lung collapsed. Her chest is not rising, which means no air is getting inside. The probable cause would be a collapsed lung since she has a history of her lung collapsing."

"I need to put this tube into an incision that I will make into her chest cavity. I need to release the pressure that is preventing her lungs for filling up with air," Tandy tells Shorty and the others.

As soon as he cuts into Renee's chest cavity and pushes the hollowed out pen into the incision, the group hears a loud hiss of trapped air escaping.

When they hear the hissing, Tandy tells Shorty to breathe into Renee's airway. This time they see Renee's chest rise. It takes a few breaths for Renee to breathe on her own.

"She's not waking up," Shorty tells Tandy. To which the doctor tells him.

"The trauma was probably too much, and she slipped into a light coma."

When Shorty hears that he tells Tandy and the others, "I'm going with her. When we were in high school, I was knocked unconscious by a bull, and she not only carried me to the hospital on her horses back, she stayed with me until I woke up. She never left me, so I'll never leave her alone. She is like my sister."

When the ambulance got there, Shorty followed Renee and Tandy onto the bus. All three of them were going to the hospital. Dr. Tandy had admitting privilege to the hospital.

Renee gets admitted and in her private room before Shorty even thinks about calling Horatio.

Before Shorty can even call, his cell phone rings. Looking down at the caller ID, he sees "Horatio Caine" clearly on the phone's screen.

"No one called Horatio to tell him where his sister was. He is probably worried about her. That is why he is calling," Shorty thinks to himself.

"Shorty, it's Horatio. Renee left for the Arena more than two hours ago. She should have been back by now. Have you seen her?" Horatio asks Shorty.

"Hello, Horatio. I was just going to call you. Something happened at the Arena. Nae is in the hospital. She was in the hydrotherapy tub when she stopped breathing. Dr. Tandy said her lung collapsed again. I'm staying here, but you might want to come down," Shorty tells Horatio the news.

Right after hanging up with Shorty, Horatio gathers Echo and rushes to the hospital. Running to the hospital's waiting room, Horatio asks for Renee Kerrigan's room.

Getting off the elevator, Horatio and Echo rush to his sister's room. It was only half an hour after Shorty had called him, letting Horatio know what happened to his sister.

Shorty was sitting in a chair in the room with Renee. Horatio's sister was in a coma for three days. By the time she woke up, the Touring Pro Division world finals had completed. Shorty never left Renee's room and had Jesse fill for him if they needed another bullfighter during that week.

It was just Horatio, Shorty, and Echo in Renee's room, waiting for Renee to wake up from her coma.

When Renee woke up, Horatio and Shorty were holding both of her hands. Horatio had her right hand, and Shorty was holding her left hand. Renee being left-handed, tightly squeezed her left hand first.

Shorty and Horatio had both nodded off, holding her hands.

Shorty was taken off guard and jumped up with a gasp.

"You're awake. Horatio, Nae's awake. I was so scared when I found you in the tub, Nae," Shorty tells both Renee and Horatio.

When Horatio heard that he wakes up. At that moment, Renee squeezed his hand too. She wanted to let him know she was still there and was still fighting.

"Nae... sweetheart... You're back," Horatio tells his sister.

Renee hadn't even opened her eyes yet. The only sound from her was quiet moans. She just lay there in bed while she struggled to open her eyes, which was very hard for her to do. Renee was just so tired and weak from waking up from her coma.

She very quickly fell asleep without opening her eyes. The next time that she opens her eyes, the three of them were not alone. Renee recognized some of them, but not everyone that was squeezed into her room.

Renee was sleeping quietly when she awakened by someone talking in the room. She didn't recognize the voice, so she slowly opened her eyes to see who was talking. Opening her eyes, she was finally able to recognize who was talking.

Dr. Tandy Freeman, Ty Murray, Sean Gleason, Frank Newsome, Jesse Byrne, Flint Rassmussen, Chase Outlaw, Jess Lockwood, Shorty Gorham, and her brother were all squeezed in her room.

Renee's pale blue eyes finally lock on the person who was talking. Jesse Byrne was the one talking.

"Renee, Glad you are okay. You scared us all. I don't think that I ever saw Shorty more scared than he was when you got hurt," Jesse tells a weak Renee.

She was still lying prone on the bed, but Renee managed a weak grin at Jesse. Before she whispered something that the whole room found very entertaining. Seeing his friend was awake, Shorty adjusted Renee's bed so that she could look everyone in the eye.

"You should have seen him when the bull attacked him in high school. In his defense, my bull did try to kill him."

Shorty looked at his friend from preschool and winked at her. At that moment, Renee could see Flint nudge her brother as the two men walked out into the hall to talk.

She didn't have time to wonder what they were talking about since Chase started to talk to her.

"I'm impressed. You give new meaning to the words cowboy tough. I just got finished reading your medical and military files, and my God have you survived more than anyone I have ever met," Chase tells a very tired Renee.

"I saw your facial x-rays from your attack in Miami. You put my facial injuries to shame," Chance finishes talking to his new friend.

Slowly one by one, the people slowly file out of her room. Eventually, only leaving Horatio, Shorty, and Dr. Tandy in with Renee.

"Can I talk to Renee in private?" Dr. Tandy tells Horatio and Shorty.

Quietly the two leave Renee with her doctor to talk.

Renee knew what the doctor wanted to talk about. Sure enough, as soon as the door closed, Dr. Tandy came out with the question.

"Renee, We have no idea why your lung collapsed. It might permanently be compromised. Can you think of any reason your heart rate was so high? That might be why your lung collapsed," Dr. Tandy asks Renee.

"Who found me? Was it Shorty?" Renee asks the doctor.

"Yes, he was the one that found you unresponsive in the tub. Why do you ask?" Tandy responds to the curious question.

"Then, can you please hand me my purse over there?" Renee makes her bizarre request from the doctor. Tandy was confused, but he does as he was asked and hands the Marine her bag.

Renee doesn't say a word just hands the doctor a nearly empty bottle of pills.

"Amphetamine, 20mg once a day." Looking at the name of the prescriber and city. "Dr. Loretta Wade, New Orleans." He then looks at how many were prescribed and when. "30 tablets and the prescription was only ten days old," Dr. Tandy was confused.

"This is a nearly empty bottle, but it is only ten days old. You have been taking more than your doctor told you too," Tandy tells a very nervous Renee.

Hanging her head out of shame, Renee tries to explain why she took more than her doctor had told her too.

"I took one in the morning, but it didn't help, so I took another around 2 pm. I don't know why, but the Amphetamine doesn't help with my energy at all. It is almost like they have the opposite effect on me. Is this possible? When I was a kid, my mom always gave me black tea before bed. At the time, I thought that that was normal, but know I'm thinking differently," Renee poses the last statement as a question.

"If you have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, then stimulants can have a calming effect on you, "Tandy tells a nervous Renee.

"I think that that is possible since when I was little, I could never focus on anything for more than five minutes. It drove my teachers crazy, but they figured out how to keep still. I was always go... go... go...," Renee confirms Tandy's statement.

"There is nothing I can do for energy, but we can figure out something to help you sleep. I need you to stop taking these. I know they didn't cause your lung to collapse. If you sleep enough, you shouldn't have an energy problem. How much do you normally sleep?" Tandy asks Renee one last question.

"I normally sleep 2-4 hours a night. Since I was in kindergarten, I have only ever catnapped. When I sleep, it is only about one hour at a time," Renee answers the doctor's question.

"Holy cow, you have managed to only sleep an average of 2-4 hours a night for thirty-three years. Most people need eight hours of sleep every night. You have thrived on less than half of that. If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for the rest of the night? Everyone else in the house is asleep," Tandy is very curious about the answer to his question.

"Well, when I was really little, I would do jigsaw puzzles, Legos, or K'Nex building sets. When I got older, I would either learn a new language or clean my guns. As of now, I am fluent or near-fluent in French, Spanish, Farsi, Russian, Dari, Pashto, and Portuguese."

"My mom gave me a hunting rifle when I was ten. She got me a Browning BAR 30-.06. My mom gave me my first handgun for my twelveth birthday. Our school had a shooting class for firearms safety. I would go down to the living room when I would wake up. My handgun was always in my bedside table, but my rifle was in the living room. When I would go downstairs, I would time myself and try to beat my previous time of cleaning my gun/rifle. I got really fast at cleaning my firearms."

"That hunting rifle saved my life. When I was fourteen years old, my horse and I were dear hunting when a mountain lion attacked us. I managed to kill the cougar before it killed us both. I usually take my Catahoula Leopard Dog, but she just had puppies."

Tandy sat in the chair nearest to Renee and took all the information in. Not saying a word until Renee was finished talking.

"It sounds like you have been both brave and determined since you were young. It seems to me like you have always been self-entertained. I am very impressed with this information. Can I talk to Shorty about your past, I need to get more insight to help you get some more sleep?" Tandy asks Renee the passing question as he stands up and walks to the door to leave.

"Sure, Shorty knows everything about me." We have been friends since I saved him from getting bullied in Pre-school. The bully was teasing him because of his name," Renee answers Tandy's question just as the doctor opens the door.

As Tandy gets to Shorty, he motions that he wants to talk. Seeing that, Shorty looks over at Renee to see if it is okay with her. Renee nods to her friend.

This all happens behind Horatio, so he never saw anything.

Horatio never pressed his sister on what the doctor wanted to talk about.

Meanwhile, in the hall, Shorty and Tandy talk in private.

"I take it that you two have been friends for a very long time. Can you tell me what she was like when she was little? Did she sleep normally, or did she just catnap? Did Renee ever take medications for anything that you are aware of? Do you know of any sensitivities that she has?" Tandy asks Renee's oldest friend.

"Renee was always a talker. The teacher would move her because she would talk to me. She would talk to whoever they put her next to. So they would put her by herself. But even that didn't help. She would just talk to herself. The teachers would eventually put her back next to me since I knew how to tune her out. It drove the teachers crazy."

"If I think about it at our sleepovers, she would only sleep a few hours all night. She would only sleep an hour or so at a time too. She has overdosed on a lot of medications in her past. She can't ever take a full dose. Sometimes she can't even take a half of a dose. When Renee was in middle school, and she broke her arm, her doctor gave her Oxycodone, but she overdosed on it. Renee only took half a dose."

"Her doctor then gave her a toddler's dose of Morphine, and that worked. She knows how to give it to herself. If you are asking me what she can take to help her sleep, but she will not overdose on, I'd say Morphine," Shorty tells her doctor before he rejoins his friends in Renee's room.

With that information, Dr. Tandy gave Renee a toddler's dose of Morphine to see if that helps his patient sleep at all. Tandy didn't want Renee to have an IV line connected to the Morphine pump. Rather he wanted the injection do be done one at a time.


	6. Chapter: World Finals Week

Renee was still in the hospital when the PBR world finals started. Sean Gleason, Ty Murray, and the bullfighters all wanted Renee to feel included in the goings-on behind the scenes. To do this, Horatio gave her an ear mic and connected her to the others via the mic.  
Before the first night of the event, he told his sister to just say something in the mic. Renee didn't know that she was on the same channel as the bullfighters. She did know that she was connected to the cameras of the event in her room. She could see everything that was going on in the T- Mobile Arena.  
"Hello...," Renee speaks into the mic. Horatio then turns on the speaker of her mic.  
"Renee, Is that you?" Renee thinks that she recognizes the voice on the other end.  
"Jesse, Is that you," She asks the voice on the other end.  
"Oh, this is going to be fun," Jesse says as he realizes what is going on.  
Another voice comes on.  
"Nae, are you going to be telling us words of encouragement?" Renee immediately knows whose talking now.  
"Shorty, don't make me tease you," She responds to her oldest and dearest friend.  
"You know you love me," Shorty says jokingly.  
"You have no idea how lucky you are that that is true," Renee responds to Shorty's joke.  
"Don't make me tell the others about some of the bulls that attacked you. Or how you were one of the bully's favorite targets until I stepped in. But, honestly, guys Shorty saved my life in the third grade when a school bully tried to drown me in the school swimming pool," Renee tries to build Shorty up a little.  
At this time, another voice comes on. "Guys, let's try to keep this professional." It was Frank Newsom talking now.  
"You're no fun," a voice chimes in.  
"Flint, I was wondering when you were going to join us," Renee tells the PBR's entertainer.  
"I'll just tease you all from my hospital bed. Remember, it is all in good fun. I would always give Seth a hard time in high school. Oops, I mean Shorty. The two of us have been best friends since preschool."  
"As I said, this is going to be fun. Is this all that will be connected with us, or is someone else silently listening to what we say?" Renee asks the group of bullfighters.  
The first two nights of the event went by without a hitch. Nobody got hurt, and no bullfighter had to save anyone. So all in all, they were perfect nights.  
Friday night was different. Renee didn't know what was going on. Earlier in the day, Flint had come down with a camera to talk to her. Renee just thought that is an interview for Sunday night. She didn't know that she was going to be honored two nights at the event.  
During the intermission, Sean Gleason brought everyone's attention to the Megatron screen. There on the screen was Flint. It was the footage from that morning.  
"Hey, everyone, It's me, Flint. I am here visiting an amazing patriot. This woman not only saved Shorty when they were in high school. She served in the United States Marines for fourteen years. She did five tours of duty in Afghanistan."  
"Three years at the border working for the Border Patrol, and two years at Miami Dade Police Department. She trained all the horses that are here at the event. She spent her lifetime training both horses and canines to work in law enforcement and military work. From the age of eleven years old."  
"Last week, she was at the Western Gift Expo doing police dog demos and beating the Marine challenges. To be honest, she was the one who had set their records to begin with."  
"Last week, there was an accident, and her lung collapsed. Shorty saved her, but she is still admitted to the hospital. Come with me, and I'll introduce her and her canine Echo."  
Flint then walks the cameraman into Renee's recovery room.  
"Did you really do everything that I just said?" Flint asks Renee.  
"Oh, I did that and more. I was awarded two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, four Army and Marine Corps medals and five Purple Hearts for my acts of bravery and courage. I was a POW twice. I was tortured for information; I never broke. They could not break me."  
"Enough about me. This is Echo. She is my current canine. My other dog is at home in Miami. That canine is a bigger hero than I am. Charlie saved more lives than I ever could." Renee was never one for attention.  
While Flint sent out the cameraman, he stayed and chatted with Renee a little. Renee wanted to tell Flint something in private. So she had the cameraman, and her brother sent out.  
Alone with Flint, Renee tells him all about everything that happened to her in the last year. She went on to tell him that she has wanted to attend a PBR World Finals since the PBR was founded. Renee was, however, serving overseas most of those years or serving at the border with CBP.  
With everything that happened to her in the last year, it is a miracle that she lived at all. Renee wanted to show Flint her skull x-rays from the initial attack and two months later when they fixed her skull. She wanted to show him her back that was all scarred up from her torture. Renee really needed someone who didn't know her at all to know her full story.  
Renee's story inspired Flint to do some independent research about everything that he just heard. He couldn't believe that anyone survived what she said that she had survived.  
Little did Renee know, but Flint was planning a special surprise for Renee on championship Sunday. This was just Patriot Friday.  
Before Flint left, he gave Renee a surprise. He quietly hands Renee a beautiful wood box. Inside the box, Renee found a silver belt buckle. It was not the normal Fan of the Night, but rather a Hero of the Year. Seeing the confusion in Renee's eyes, Flint explains it.  
"Montana Silversmiths heard about you and wanted to give you a gift."  
Renee never saw herself as anyone's hero and told Flint as much.  
"I'm not a hero. I just did what needed to be done," Flint was moved by her humble nature. He was also impressed with everything that Renee had been through the past year.  
When Flint left, Renee saw him wink at Horatio. Renee, however, didn't say anything about it to her brother. Since she was still in the hospital, she never saw the video or the standing ovation that she got from the audience. That was just the first time during the week where she was going to be honored. The other time was Championship Sunday. The whole year is leading up to this night. This was the pinnacle of the PBR.  
Championship Sunday started out like every other day. The only difference was Renee was supposed to be discharged from the hospital just before the event.  
No one knew that Renee, Horatio, and Echo were planning on surprising everyone with an appearance. They went directly from the hospital to the event. Renee had her brother bring her western wear to the hospital for her to change into. She couldn't go to a rodeo-style event in cargo pants and combat boots.  
When the three of them go to the Arena, Horatio calls Shorty.  
"Shorty, it's Horatio. Renee just got out of the hospital. We are actually at the back entrance to the Arena. We want to surprise everyone, but need your help to do it." Was what Horatio told Renee's best friend.  
"Wow, is Renee sure she is up to it?" Shorty asks to confirm her commitment.  
When his sister fiercely nods her head yes, Horatio tells Shorty as much.  
"She's positive. Has she ever done anything halfway?"  
"No, good point," Shorty answers Horatio's question.  
With Shorty's help, Renee gets smuggled into the event. No one knew that she was there until right before the event started.  
"So, what's going on tonight?" Renee asks as she just strolls into the commentator's meeting.  
When everyone turned around, they were just shocked. The last time anyone saw her, she was in a hospital bed. Now they needed to figure out how they were going to work her into the event. Ty knew exactly when to introduce her to the crowd.  
"We can remind the crowd of the last video of her, then have her bring out the flag. Both Renee and Echo can go out with the flag. We can give her the best seats in the house to watch the event. Do you want to still talk to the bullfighters during the event, or do you just want to surprise them when they see you down in the dirt."  
Renee knew that Shorty already knew since he was the one who got Renee and Echo in unnoticed. She did, however, want to surprise the others since she knew that Shorty wouldn't have spoiled the surprise for her.  
Right before the event started, Horatio, Echo, and Renee walked down to the hidden spot that they have set up for surprise entrances to the event.  
Nobody knew she was there until Sean Gleason and Ty reintroduced her.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I please direct your eyes to the center stage area. You are about to be introduced to an incredible woman. You might remember her from Friday nights patriot spotlight. The last time you saw her, she was in the hospital. We just found out  
that she was released a few hours ago. The only place that she wants to be is here."  
"We have a special treat for her later in the night, but for now, please give a huge Las Vegas welcome to Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Renee Hope Kerrigan and her police canine Echo."  
To Renee's complete and utter amazement, the whole crowd got to their feet and gave both of them a standing ovation. Renee walks out with Echo to a roar from the crowd. The two of them stood there, holding the flag out for the world to see.  
As the national anthem was sung, a bald eagle soared down and landed on the arm of a waiting handler. Renee stood in awe of the sight.  
When the song was sung and the prayer completed, Renee was greeted by all the bullfighters as they led her to the best seats in the house.  
As that afternoon went by, the intermission was quickly approaching. Renee still had no idea what Flint had planned for her.  
When the intermission came, the Megatron lit up. Then Flint's voice came on.  
"You all met Renee Kerrigan, but who is she. Well, I am here to tell you all about this unstoppable force that is Renee. Look at the screen, and you will see the x-ray of her skull after an attack she survived going through in March of this year. These are x-rays of her ribs, both lower legs, and both forearms. All the breaks you see were broken bones. She shattered her whole skull. The next x-ray is her skull now. See, it is almost completely metal. After her attack, she overworked herself and passed out. Fracturing her occipital bone. Later she was shot, drugged, buried alive, and involved in a terrible accident while she was attempting to arrest a person involved in human smuggling at least."  
Photos of her truck and video of the accident were played on the screen.  
Flint continues, "This woman survived this, five tours of duty in Afghanistan, fourteen years in the Marines, three years at the border, and three years in Miami. This amazing woman should have died more than a dozen times, but she is still here. And get this she only weighs 110 pounds and is only 5 feet tall."  
What Flint says now was a surprise to Renee. "Ford and King Ranch heard about everything that you have done for this country and about your recent accident."  
The next thing that Renee knows, James's face is on the Megatron.  
James was being presented with a brand new hunter green F-350 Super Duty. The new truck even had duly tires in the back. The new F-350 was complete with oversized tires and raisers. The Ford and King Ranch replaced her vehicle. By this time, Renee was reduced to tears. The last thing that was on the Megatron was an excited Piper and Charlie.  
"Hurry home, Charlie and I have a surprise to show you," The teenager was clearly excited about something.  
The presentation ends, and again Renee and Echo receive a standing ovation. She was very embarrassed since Renee was never one for the limelight. The event finished with a near photo finish. They didn't know who was going to win the event until the last ride.

When Renee, Horatio, and Echo arrive at the Miami-Dade International Airport, they are greeted by James, Piper, and Charlie.

Going down the escalator, Charlie broke free from James and Piper. Running up the down side of the escalator. The Marine canine was very excited to see her partner after nearly three months apart.

Charlie just about launched herself into Renee's arms. With lots of licks and tail wags. Echo was very eager to reunite with her doggie sibling. The two canines were dancing around the group of humans barking and whining.

When Renee and her brother got to James and Piper the four of them hug each other. Gathering up their bag at the baggage claim, Renee and Horatio had not left Miami by plane but they did return that way.

A month ago they were involved in a fiery crash while they attempted to arrest the suspect in a sailors murder and human smuggling. Renee not only flipped her truck, it barrel rolled turning end over end. When it stopped flipping it caught on fire and ended up exploding in a giant fireball.

When the four of them plus the two dogs walk back to the garage, they saw Renee's new truck. The truck that the Ford company and King Ranch had given her to thank her for her service. The truck had been delivered to her house while she was still in Las Vegas.

"It looks just like the last one," Renee thought to herself.

That is when James shows her a surprise. The Ford company had managed to put police lights and sirens in the front of the truck.

"Look, you don't need to have a detached siren and lights on top. The buttons are inside on the center console," James was very excited to point that out.

This truck was her on duty truck and her personal truck at the same time. The side didn't say Miami- Dade Police it was what they call an unmarked vehicle.

It was very tall and long. Renee had to climb up into the drivers seat. James climbed into the front passenger side. The dogs jumped into the extended cabin in the back. Piper and Horatio climb into the back row with the dogs. Echo and Charlie were sitting in the middle of the seat.

Everyone headed out to drop Horatio off at his house. They were then going to make a pit stop at McGraw's Paintball and Gun Range. Piper didn't know why. Renee and her dad had a surprise in store for the teenager.

Piper had not gone to the property since Renee left for her road trip to pick up a puppy.

As they pull into the property's parking lot. Renee puts the truck into park. Jumping out of the truck.

"Charlie and Echo, you stay here. We will be right back," Renee tells her canine partners.

With that the three of them walk through the back door. Piper knew that this door led to a storage room. Walking through the door. The three of them are greeted by two- eight month old puppies.

"Which one's ours?" Piper asked Renee.

Renee and James had a surprise for the girl. Both puppies were theirs.

"Well, the brown and blue little boy is mine," Renee looks over at James and winks at him.

"The blue one with the odd colored eyes. The little girl, is yours Sweetie," Renee is barely able to contain her excitement.

Piper eyes widen as she turns to face her dad.

"Really, Daddy, she's mine," Piper was jumping up and down.

"Surprise, she's an early Christmas/ Birthday present," James answers his daughter.

"Her birthday is Christmas Eve. We usually combine the two of them," James explains to a clearly confused Renee.

"We'll see about that," Renee says as she winks at the girl.

"This is Patriot," Renee tells the two of them. "He is going to be trained as a forensic detection dog for Horatio's team. What are you going to name your puppy?" Renee ask Piper.

The girl was clearly thinking long and hard about what she was going to call her new dog.

"I like Indy, short for Indigo. Since she is a blue color," Piper tells Renee and her dad.

The three of them that entered the property leave as a group of five. Now in the car was seven. The people were outnumbered by dogs. Now there was four dogs and three people.

It was late so the truck headed to Renee's house. James and Piper lived at Renee half of the time. The other half of the time her brother Horatio lived with Renee.


	7. Chapter: A Thanksgiving to Remember

Chapter: A Thanksgiving to Remember

This was promising to be a very memorable holiday indeed. It had been only a few weeks since Renee, Echo, and Horatio had gotten back from Las Vegas. Renee had already given the teen an early Christmas present. Renee and her father had given Piper an eight month old puppy.

Piper's puppy she named Indy, since the canine was blue with brown spots. She even had one blue eye and one brown eye. Indy was Renee's canine Echo's half sister. Indy was also Horatio's new team member Patriot's full sister. Renee had bought Indy when she had gone down to New Orleans to pick up her brother's new team canine member.

Piper was very happy with her early birthday present. Renee had told Piper a little secret.

"Don't worry, you will still be getting Christmas presents from me. You don't have to choose between Christmas and Birthday celebrations," Renee says as she winks as Piper. Ever since Piper was little she had to choose since her birthday was Christmas Eve. Not anymore she thought to herself.

This was already promising to be a holiday to remember. This was the first year since her mom had died that Piper, and her dad James would be celebrating with anyone who was not one of her best friends families. This year they would be celebrating with her dads friend Renee and her brother Horatio. Horatio had saved Piper's

life less than a year ago after she had been shot and pushed off of four stacked cargo containers. Horatio had taken he to the hospital. Had he not done that Piper would have died from a head injury in addition to a gunshot wound to her stomach.

Piper didn't know what to expect. No body knew what to expect since Renee had no family, James had no family besides Piper and Horatio had no family.

Renee was still going to do what she did every year. She was however making it even larger than normal. Renee would normally bring four vets from the VA with no families over and treat them to a family feast complete with all the fixings. This year she was going to be doing that plus inviting James, Piper, Horatio, and his CSI team over for family thanksgiving dinner.

Counting head, Renee needed to make sure that she had enough food for everyone. She would normally cook for the four vets and her. However since this year was looking like a much larger group, Renee decided to cater the event. Renee was still planning on making the dessert for the party. She loved to cook the dessert.

"Let's see, there is James, Piper, Horatio, the four vets, Eric, Ryan, Natalia, Walter, Calleigh, Austin, Patty, and Frank. Plus Echo, Charlie, Indy, and Patriot. Renee wanted to count the canines since she always gave them some of the food too since they are family too. That makes the total of people that will be there to fifteen . If you add the dogs that is nineteen. I'll cook for the dogs so I need to cater for fifteen," Piper could hear Renee talking to herself.

Piper was curious so she continued to listen to Renee talking.

"Fifteen people will mean three or four pies. Let's see obviously one pumpkin pie. Maybe Cherry pie for another."

"Hey, Piper darling, do you like Apple pie or pecan pie?" Renee just saw Piper was eavesdropping on her so she asked the teen for her input.

"Me, I like Apple but dad loves Pecan pie. We both just love your Cherry pie though." Piper confesses to Renee.

"Maybe, I'll make four desserts," Renee continues to talk to herself to get things figured out. Pumpkin pie, Cherry pie, Dutch Apple and Pecan pie. Yes, I'll make four," Renee finalizes her decision.

"Hey Alexa, call Las Terrazas Catering," Renee talks to her Amazon Echo."

"Hello, Las Terrazas Catering, how can I help you," the young lady on the other side of the phone calls says.

"Hi, I'm calling to talk to the owner, Is she in?" Renee asks the lady.

"One minute please, I'll go get her." The lady answers.

A few minutes later, another female voice comes on.

"Hello, this is the owner, How can I help you."

"Hey, Sweetie, It's Renee. You told me to call you if ever need anything. I really need to cater my Thanksgiving dinner this year. I normally can do it, but this year it will be much larger than usual. Looks like fifteen people this year. I will be doing dessert of course. Can you help?" Renee asks the owner.

"My staff is booked, I can do it though, For you I'll do anything, since you did save my life a few years ago." I'll be over tomorrow morning to discuss the dinner. I do still have your address from when you gave it to me. I'll see you tomorrow," the owner then hangs up with Renee.

Getting up, Renee looks at Piper.

"Piper, do you want to learn how to makes some pies. I can teach you how for Thanksgiving," Renee asks the girl as she walks by.

The teen adamantly nods her head, yes.

Thanksgiving was only in a few weeks but Renee wanted to menu to be a surprise for everyone else so she sent James and Piper to the store before her friend got there to talk about the menu that Renee wanted.

With the two of them alone in the house, they quietly built the menu for what promised to be a very memorable occasion.

"I'll be having four veterans who have no families as well as my family and friends over. So lets do the traditional fare. Roasted Turkey, Cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed

potatoes, sweet potato pie, whole cranberry sauce, and I'll do desserts. I really enjoy baking," Renee tells her friend.

During the next three weeks Renee used one of the empty lots that she owned and put up a large white tent to house the larger than life thanksgiving dinner she was planning. Her house was large but no where near large enough to house a dinner party of close to twenty people plus six dogs. Five of the canines were quite large.

At first Renee was planning on having fifteen people but found out that Tobias and Lukas had nowhere to go. As well as Alexx and her husband had nowhere to go either. Renee would not have that so she invited them too. Piper was more than glad since she still adored Lukas.

Thanksgiving dawned just like any other day. Renee swiftly shooed James away from the house. Sending him out to pick up the vets and bring them to the house. James also had to stop by the local wine store to buy four bottles of wine. Two red wine and two white wine bottles.

With James gone, Renee let the caterer in. Gathering Piper in the kitchen, the two of them set out to bake the four pies. The caterer had control of the kitchen. Renee did have a separate oven set up on the bunker. Piper and Renee took their supplies over two lots and into the hidden underground bunker. This would be the first of many baking lessons for Piper. She really wanted to learn how to bake Renee's Cherry pie as well as Renee's Key lime pie. Renee wanted to teach Piper how to do her Cherry Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, and Pecan Pie.

At about 5 PM the guests began arriving at Renee's house. Renee then led everyone to the white dinner tent. Slowly all the guests got to her house. The last to arrive were James and the veterans. Renee had a red-carpet lied out to welcome the World War Two Marines and Naval veterans.

This would be the twentieth year that Renee has hosted World War Two vets for Thanksgiving. She had done it every year that she was stateside for thanksgiving dinner.

The set up for the food was a party as large as hers was, Renee set it up buffet style. She did however serve the vets their food. These were men that over the last twenty years she considered to be family. Since every year she would bring the same vets home for thanksgiving. By now they were all in their late eighties early nineties.

Always the gentleman though. They were officers and she was enlisted. They outranked her by a long shot, but they stood whenever she came into the room. The Naval officers had their dress whites pressed and parade ready. Ribbons and medals on their left breast. The Marines had their dress blues pressed and boot polished. Their medals and ribbons over their hearts.

Renee knew what it was like not to have a family, so she would never want people who sacrificed so much to be alone during the holiday season. When Renee was sent back to the states the vets were there for her. When she moved from New Orleans to Miami, they moved too. She was the closest thing to family that they had left.

The vets took an instant liking to Piper. The girl was very kind to them. She gave them all bear hugs and kissed their cheeks. You could see them light up with joy.

Renee overheard the teen ask them a very moving question.

"Can I call you my Grandpas?" Is what Piper asked them.

Hearing that they just lit up. They all said in unison, "yes, of course Sweetie. You can all us whatever you want."

While the veteran were there, Renee slept on the couch. Giving up her bed for the Marine Lieutenant Colonel. The other three bedrooms the other vets stayed in for the week.

Renee didn't want them to feel rushed so she had them over for a week. The other Marine was a one star general. The Navy vets were both Rear Admirals. Combined they had more medals than Renee could ever earn in a lifetime. The Marine Lieutenant Colonel actually had a Congressional Medal of Honor.

"Piper, Darling, can you help me by taking these plates to the gentleman sitting on the right side of the table. They are at the end of the table, Renee asks Piper.

"Sure," was Piper's answer to Renee's question.

The girl grabs the plates and carries them over to the two Naval officers. As she walks over to the table, all the veterans stand on their feet. She smiles at them and places the plates down, "here you go grandpas," she tells them.

As she turns around to go get her own plate she nearly walks into Renee. Nae was bringing the Marine Officers their dinners. When they see Renee getting to their table again the vets stand at their feet.

"Please, sit down and enjoy your dinner. We have lots of pies so save some appetite," Renee tells the vets as she places the plates on the table in front of the old Marines.

With everyone sitting and eating, Piper asked the vets to tell some old war stories. Renee knew they didn't really like to talk about it but they obliged telling the group so of their more funny war stories.

Piper didn't want the day to end. She had so much fun. Everyone had a good time. Unfortunately the day had to end. As everyone else left the house it was soon just Renee, James, Piper, and the vets left. Slowly things slowed down and Renee went to the kitchen to feed the dogs their Thanksgiving dinner.

Renee came out to see Piper sitting on the Marine Lieutenant Colonels lap and playing with his Medal of Honor very carefully.

"Grandpas, I glad you came. You are my hero's. Your generation was truly the greatest generation," Renee could hear Piper talk to the veterans.

James sees Renee watching his daughter, so he goes up to Renee. "She's an amazing young woman. If I do say so myself."

Hearing that Renee just nods yes. Her mouth was not working very well. By now it was late, so James tells Piper to get Indy to go home for the night.

"But daddy, I don't want to go," the girl protests.

"Your choice Nae. You're sleeping on the couch so can two more squeeze in on the couch," James says as he looks at Renee.

Looking from Piper, to her dad then to the vets. Renee responds.

"Sure, the more the merrier." We can figure out the logistics of sleeping arrangements."

"The couch pulls out to a queen bed, I don't pull it out since it is just me sleeping on it. You two can take the couch. I'll take the recliner. That chair lays flat so I can sleep very comfortably," Renee tells James and Piper. "The dogs are good where they are," Renee continues to talk.

With that settled, everyone went to their respective sleeping place. The following day no one was particularly looking forward to. Tomorrow is the day that Renee drops the veterans off at their assisted living home.

The vets would be back for Christmas. They came every year. Renee has a secret from them. She was paying for their assisted living home too. She liked to take care of the people in her life but didn't want any credit. Renee was very humble in nature. With less than a month before Christmas it was the holiday rush.


	8. Chapter: Piper Birthday Miracle

Chapter: Piper's Birthday Miracle

With Piper's birthday and Christmas quickly approaching, Renee pulls the teen over and asks her what she wants for her birthday. Piper's birthday is Christmas Eve, so she normally has to choose Christmas or Birthday. The girl usually would choose Christmas since you get more presents that way. She tells Renee as much.

"You let me worry about that Sweetie," was how Renee responded to her friends daughter.

"Well, in that case. I just want to get my friends and classmates together and do a sniper versus kids paintball war. It would be you, me, daddy, Horatio, and Calleigh against my schoolmates. No presents just that," is what Piper told her dads friend.

With that, Renee set out to pull a Christmas miracle out of her hat. The woman did have connections to everyone needed to pull off such a miracle.

When the teen went to school, Renee dropped her off.

"Bye, Sweetie. I'll pick you after school," Renee shouts as Piper meets up with Max Mason, and Maize Monroe.

As soon as the teens where out eye sight, Renee walks up to the door. She needed to talk to the principal. The principal was the only one who knew that Renee was paying tuition for the six SEAL team member's kids.

"Hi, I have a problem that I was hoping that you could help me out with. Can you help me get Piper's party. I know it's Christmas Eve but she just wants everyone to play a paintball war. With her, her daddy, and some close friends of his against her whole school. I have McGraws Paintball and Gun Range booked for the whole day. I was wondering if you can get the word out without Piper finding out. I told her to invite her core group of friends. Maize Monroe, Sarah Rossi, Max Mason, Lukas McGraw and William Lewis are the ones who she will tell," Is what Renee asks of the principal of Piper's school.

"I'll see what I can do about that," was the response from the principal.

Renee quickly left to organize the rest of it. Piper's birthday and Christmas Eve was only two weeks away. Renee still needed the decorations and the cake. She already knew the teens favorite flavor of cake. As well as her favorite colors. But where do you get olive green and camouflage party decorations. Renee was wondering that, when she got an idea.

She was friends with the military recruiters that go to the high school. She knew that they would put up olive green and camouflage balloons to get the kids attention. So she quickly called them up, asking a favor.

"Hey, Andrew. Can I get some of those balloons that you use when you recruit at the high school. My friends daughter's birthday is coming up. Her favorite colors are olive green and camouflage.

Her daddy is a United States Marine Corps Master Sergeant and sniper," was what she asked the recruiter on the phone.

She got the answer that she thought that she would get, "Of course, We Marines' help each other."

Renee had some surprised in store for Piper on her birthday. She was able to set up the party inside one of the cargo containers in the middle of the course. Setting it up as a home base of sorts. Anyone inside was safe. Outside anything goes. Only rule was no intentional head shots.

Renee had gotten her hands of about a dozen paintball claymore mines. Giving them to Piper early on Christmas Eve.

"If you want, we can get there early to set some up for your classmates," Renee said when she saw the excitement in Piper's eyes.

Renee had gone early anyways to set up the decorations and the cake.

"Seeing the cake, Piper comments on the size of it, " That's a bit big for my group of friends, but I suppose that we will just have leftovers for Christmas Day.

When the guests start showing up Piper was floored. Not only did her core group of friends come but so does her whole school. All the teachers, students, and even the faculty were there. Piper was surprised that the veterans even came.

"Grandpas you came too. This is more than I asked for," she squealed as she threw her arms around each of their necks.

"Wild horses couldn't keep us away, Sweetie," the Marine Lieutenant Colonel said to the young girl.

Piper wanted to be the one who got the veterans settled down in the container that they were using as a home base.

"Can I leave you distinguished gentleman here to guard the cake," Piper says to the vets as she winks at them.

"We shall guard it with our lives,' one of the Navy Rear Admiral says to the birthday girl.

Once the teen had run off to join her friends, the veterans all took out several small wooden boxes and gently laid them on the present table. Piper said that she didn't want any presents but some of her friends did anyway. They even wrapped the present in birthday paper.

Renee had set it up in waves. Handing out a colored card. The color corresponded to the wave you were in. Red was the first wave. Blue was the second, and Yellow was the final wave. The goal for the school was to locate and neutralize the snipers. The snipers goal was to take out the school people before they got found out. Yelling out where the snipers are after you get hit is an instant expulsion.

Piper and her team all set out to set themselves up all around the course. They all had earwigs in to talk to each other. Piper took Renee up to her favorite spot up on the top of the four cargo containers. The location of her shooting. That was still Piper's favorite spot to hang out.

Piper had brought up her ghillie blanket again this time she was determined to use it. Seeing where Piper was setting up, Renee jumped the eight feet to the next cargo stack over. The way that Tobias had set up the course, it was a stack of containers an eight foot aisle way than another stack of cargo containers. There was no ladder up to any on the other stacks just Piper's stack.

Piper did have the best view of the course. So Renee settled down one container over. James settled down near the claymores to take the straggles off.

Horatio set himself up by hiding behind a point of egress. One way in and one way out. A bottleneck so to speak of. Calleigh had seen Renee jump over to the next cargo container and climbed up herself. Using a running start she jumped the space than she jumped over another few containers.

They new had three snipers up high and two down low. Renee had told them to wait for her to radio that it was all clear for the first wave of contestants to try to find the snipers.

"It's like shooting fish in a barrel," Piper comments through her earwig.

"Shall I make it more interesting," Piper knew that voice. It was Horatio. Without another word, they hear his shout as he ran out in front of a group of kids letting them see him before he ran off to another location.

This did have the desired response from the kids. Piper could here the other kids yell, "found one, after him," Piper knew that voice too. It was Max Mason, her best friend. Shortly after that, Piper hears Max's voice again, "hit", as he walks back to the home base. Immediately after she hears Horatio also shout, "hit" they were now down to three snipers.

By this time they were onto Blue wave. This consisted of the older more experienced students. In this round Maize Monroe and Sarah Rossi were among the contestants from Piper's school. Calleigh took out Maize in the first few minutes of blue wave. Right before Sarah took her out too. Again, Piper hears two friends yell, "hit" in rapid succession.

Two sniper down, three to go and the school wins. Suddenly they all hear a loud bang. Someone had stepped on one of the claymores that they had set up earlier. Instantly they hear about five little, "hits", yelled out. The claymore had the wanted reaction.

"They have paintball mines now, you have got to be kidding me," Piper knew that voice but she hadn't heard him for a long time . It was Lukas's oldest brother, Jamison. He must be home from training to fly the Raptor fighter jets."

Quietly Piper smiled. She had always admired Jamison. He was very tall and handsome, not Piper's type but handsome none the less.

Piper knew that Jamison was not hit because, he never called, "hit." She was also very nervous because if anyone would see a sniper hidden it would be a military person.

"Hit", James shouts. Jamison had seen him hiding near the mines. It was now down to Renee and Piper against the yellow wave. This wave was her teachers wave. This was also the wave that Piper was really looking forward to. All the students had been taken out by Piper's team, and were know waiting in the cargo container for everyone else.

Yellow wave was much smaller than the last two waves. Only about a dozen teachers plus half a dozen faculty members. As Piper and Renee started to whittle that number down it got down to three teachers plus the two snipers.

Renee knew what she needed to do. She was going to sacrifice herself so that Piper could get the drop on the remaining players. From where James was standing near the cargo containers he could see what was going on. The only reason he could see everything was that simple fact that he was well over six feet tall.

He could clearly see how much Renee cared for Piper and how much his daughter loved Renee. He saw Renee stand up and shout. As she shot two of the remaining players.

"Hit," "hit," then he heard the inevitable, "hit" from Renee.

The instant he heard that he hears another, "hit," it was the last player getting hit by Piper.

"Game Over," they hear booming from the loudspeakers.

"Birthday day team win, good game everyone," the loudspeaker continued to boom.

When everyone was in the container, Renee had the cake brought out.

"Here, you cut it Grandpa," Piper says as she gently leads the Lieutenant Colonel up to the table.

"Are you sure you want me to do it," he asks the girl. Piper just nudged him closer to the table.

As the veteran cut the cake, Renee couldn't help but notice that he was not wearing his Medal of Honor nor any of the other medals that he had earns. Noticing that Renee looks over at the other vets. None of them had their medals on. Looking over at the table Renee recognized eight small wooden boxes on the gift table and she instantly knew what they had brought the birthday girl. She also knew that they had thought long and hard about this decision. As she knew that the medals were their prized possessions. The most precious thing that they had.

Quietly Renee swelled with pride and excitement to see how Piper responds. Renee quickly put the boxes away. She knew that Piper would be reduced to tears upon seeing what the vets had given her. Renee was going to give them to her when it was just the veterans left after everyone else had left.

Lukas and Jamison gave her new paintball equipment. Maize Monroe gave her a new protective vest for paintball. Her last one was ruined when she got shot. Sarah Rossi gave Piper a World War Two style bomber jacket. Piper was very pleased with this present. Her best friend Max gave her a couple bottles of compressed air to refill her paintball gun as well as a box of her neon florescent pink paintball ammo.

As everyone left the party, Piper looked over to Renee who was fighting back tears.

"Nae, are you okay," she asks Renee.

"I'm fine, but I put away a few presents since I thought that you should open these when it was just the vets and us left. I know you are going to cry," is what Renee said to Piper.

Gathering the veterans and James around the girl. Renee pulls out the small boxes and places them down on the table. When James sees the boxes he too knows what they are. He also knows that his daughter is going to lose it when she opens them.

"Here, Sweetie." James tells his daughter as he helps her sit down to open these little surprises.

Grabbing the first one, Piper looks at who it was from.

"Bill Kingston, USMC LC," Piper reads out loud. As she gently opens the box you could feel the emotion when she reveals what was inside.

"I can't take this,"Piper exclaims as she pulls out the vets most prized possession. In Piper's hands she was holding the Congressional Medal of Honor.

"I insist, Sweetie. You make us all oh so happy. None of us have any kids or grandkids. We all just adore you," The Lieutenant Colonel tells the teenager.

Looking around at the vets she just knew what they had done.

As she opens the next seven boxes she was crying more and more.

In all they had given her: A Medal of Honor, A Navy Cross, A Silver Star, A Bronze Star, A Army and Marine Corps Medal, A Distinguished Service Medal, A Flying Cross, and a Purple Heart. All totaled Piper got two medals from each of them.

By now she was reduced to tears. One by one, Piper approached the veterans and thanked them, giving them a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Piper stayed with her dad while Renee drove the vets all back to their assisted living home near Renee's.

Once away from the party, Renee turns to them. "That was just so sweet of you," Those medals are now Piper's most prized possessions. I know that she is going to have her dad build her a display case from them. The next time you all are over, you will be front and center on the fireplace," Renee turns back to the road. As she had arrived at their home.

Parking in the parking lot, Renee got out and walked them all in arm in arm one at a time. Before she left she kissed them on the cheek and gave them a hug and a little salute.

Getting home, Renee was almost knocked down by Piper jumping into her arms.

"That was the best day ever, I don't know how you did it, but thanks you so much," Piper tells Renee.

"I have another surprise in the kitchen. This is what I did with my mom every year on Christmas Eve." Renee had put up the tree and all the decorations on Black Friday. The veterans were still there so they all helped.

In an instant Piper was in the kitchen to see the surprise.

In the kitchen were three dozen fresh baked undecorated sugar cookies all cut out in little Christmas Trees, Stockings, Candy Canes, and Stars.

There was also tubes of red, white, and green cookie icing. Along with sprinkles of every color. All ready to decorate. The three of them spend the next three hours decorating cookies.

At that time, Renee shooed Piper off to bed. The two adults stayed in the kitchen. That is when James looks at Renee.

"What do you have up your sleeves?" He asks her.

"You'll see when she falls asleep." They only needed to wait two hours until Charlie walked downstairs. The canine would stay with Piper until she fell asleep, then she would go back to Renee.

Once Piper was asleep, Renee grabs James and leads him to the hidden entry to Renee's underground shooting range.

As they walk into Renee firearms collection room, James notices several unwrapped presents.

"You didn't, Did you?" He asks as he turned to face Renee.

"What do you mean?" Renee was just playing with James. She knew what he meant. "Yes I did. It's an auntie's motive." She says as she winks at him.

James opens up the boxes one at a time.

Inside was a brand new expensive paintball gun in the first box.

Opening up the next box, James looks Renee dead in the eyes. "Is this the gun that saved your life when you were her age." He asks her.

"Yes, that is the Browning Bar 30-.06 that saved my life. Piper's old enough to learn how to shoot a rifle. Don't you think. She already knows gun safety. Don't worry she will not be left alone with the gun."

"Besides that, I was already in a shooting club and hunting at her age," Renee tells James.

The last box was much much smaller that the other two. Looking at the first two, James thought that he knew what was in the last box.

Sure enough when he opened it he saw the name stamped across the gun slide. Sig Sauer P-226 9mm. He knew why Renee chose this gun. Renee has had the same Sig since the joined the Marines. That gun has never failed her." James was happy that Renee took such an interest in Piper. He could clearly see that Renee adored Piper and Piper loved Renee very much.

"I'll give her the paintball gun. You can give Piper the other two if you want," Renee says to James casually.

"No, you give her those. I just need to go home and grab hers. I left them at home so she wouldn't see them. We spend all our time here so she would never be able to find them here since they weren't here but rather back at home." James says as he goes out the door and jumps into his truck.

James quickly got back to Renee's house. The two start to wrap the presents for the girl. James had gotten Piper a new iPad, iPhone and a GoPro camera." Piper had been begging for those things for years

Early in the morning of Christmas Day, James went up to wake Piper. This was the first time that Renee was part of their lives as far as Piper knew.

How was she to know that Piper was over all the time for Christmas before Piper was born. Renee had spent every Christmas that she was stateside over with James and Mac.

Piper knew not of that fact. All she knew was that Renee was awesome to have around. Was there anything that she couldn't do.

"Here Sweetie, open these presents first," Renee then gave the girl the gifts from her dad.

Renee was hoping that Piper would get distracted by the gifts from her dad and not notice the ones from Renee till much later.

Renee's distraction tactic worked like a charm. As the girls set up her iPad and iPhone, Renee wordlessly tucked her gifts back under the tree.

When she saw that James had noticed her slight of hand, she whispered her response.

"She can open them when Horatio gets here in a few hours. You can have this time, James." Is what Renee tells James.

Renee had plans for later. Horatio was going to bring the vets over for Christmas dinner. Piper had put the ribbons up on display the second that she had gotten to Renee's house.

Piper never let on but she saw Renee's slight of hand. She also knew what Renee was trying to do and really loved the effort.

Once the gifts were open, James got up and went back into the kitchen. Renee didn't know what he was doing until she smelled one of her favorite odors.

James was in the kitchen frying bacon and scrambling up eggs.

James walks out carrying two large platters.

"Breakfast is served," he proclaims as he puts the platters down on the dining room table.

Renee and Piper quickly get to the table eager to eat.

James pulls out the chairs for them then pushes them back in for Renee and Piper.

Within a few hours the house was full again.

The vets were eager to ask Piper what she got for Christmas. Piper was very eager to show them her new iPhone, iPad, and Go-Pro camera. It is at that time that one of the vets points out the three presents still under the tree.

Renee, can I open your presents now. I saw you hide them earlier, your presents wouldn't compete with his for my attention," Piper asks Renee from the other room.

"Sure Sweetie, just give me and Horatio a few minutes to get in there. Did you she your Grandpa's the little area you put your presents from yesterday?" Renee tells the teen through the kitchen swing doors.

Gently Piper takes the hands of the vets and leads them over to the fireplace. It was just as Renee had told them the girl would do.

A few minutes later everyone was gathered around the Christmas tree so Piper could open her presents from Renee. Piper opened them up medium, large, small.

As she opened up medium sized present, she stopped and looked at Renee.

"You got me a Tippmann U.S Army Project Salvo. How, they have a back order on these." Piper asks Renee with her jaw hanging open.

Renee didn't answer she just winked at the girl. Opening up the largest present. Again she stopped. Gently taking out the hunting rifle. A Browning BAR. Is this like the one you told me about. The one that saved your life when you were my age."

Looking Piper square in the eyes, Renee tells the girls, "This is not like the gun I told you about. It is the gun I told you about. It's yours Sweetie."

As Piper opens up the last present she looks at it then looks at Renee and her dad then back at the present.

Slowly and carefully Piper removes the Sig Sauer and looks at it. Before exclaiming, "This is just like your daddy and yours Nae. I know that Nae you have a larger caliber but it's the same type of gun. Can we go down to the range and shoot later.

Renee turns to face the vets, "Do you want to come. I have a hidden shooting range downstair." The vets just look at Renee like deer in the headlights.

"Of course. Can we shoot too?" One of the Navy Rear Admirals ask Renee.

"Sure, you all remember gun safety. Follow me to the range." Renee then leads the group to the entryway to the range. Renee wanted to show Piper where she could keep her guns in Renee collection room.

"Sweetie, you can keep yours here I opened up some space for you."

Setting up the cutouts Renee sends them down range. Handing the veterans unloaded Beretta Bobcats.

"Tell me when you are ready and I'll hand you the magazines," Renee tells the vets.

Renee then got her James set up with his Sig sidearm.

"Do you want to use yours or do you want to try something different?" Renee asks her brother.

Horatio thought about that for a few minutes. "You pick, one of your collection," is what he tells her.

Renee thought about it. She knew the prefect gun for her brother. It was her least favorite. Whenever she shoots it it nearly dislocates her shoulder.

Handing Horatio a large revolver. "Here's my Smith and Wesson .500 Magnum. I like to call it my hand cannon."

When James hears the gun type she gave her brother he nudges her.

With everyone set-up in their own compartment, Renee gets ready to send the cutout down range.

One at a time they take their turn shooting at their own cut outs.

When the gun smoke clears, Renee recalls the cutouts to see who won. It was no surprise that everyone of both her dad and Renee's shots hit dead center.

The vets were actually very good. All hitting close to center mass. Now it was Piper's turn. What Piper's cut out showed was shocking to everyone including Piper.

Her cut out made it clear who was the better shooter at close range. Every one of Piper's shots hit in the kill zone. The area right between the eyes and right over each eye. Instant kills.

They all took the same number of shots. They all fired five times. Since that was the capacity of the smelliest gun.

Horatio was amazed by the recoil in the Smith and Wesson. After everyone had a chance to shoot a hand gun. Piper wanted to shoot her hunting rifle once.

"Sure, just go get me a single 30-.06 SPRINGFIELD in the ammo cupboard. They are clearly labeled," Renee tells the teen.

The girl quickly returned with the round of ammo in her hand. Renee quickly got Piper ready to shoot the rifle once.

"Ok Sweetie, Now take a slow steady breath. Now pull the trigger as you exhale," Renee coached the teen. This was the girls first time firing a rifle. Renee had put a cutout for Piper to aim at.

As she pulled the trigger, Piper looked like a professional. Sending the cutout, everyone was surprised except Renee. There at Center mass was a single bullet hole.

"Are you done Sweetie," Renee asks the teen. When she nodded everyone headed upstairs. It was time for dinner.

The whole time that they were downstairs, Renee had been cooking dinner.

The table was already set and just needed to be plated.

"Piper, Sweetheart, Can you help me get grandpas's plates done," Renee asks Piper as she hands the teen two plates full of food.

"Of course, Nae. I'll serve the Navy officers and you can serve the Marines," Piper proposes.

"That sounds good," Renee responds as she takes the other plates to the table.

When they both get to the dining room, The veterans again get to their feet.

The next morning Renee took the vets back home, but she was sadder this time. She feared that this would be the last time she sees any of them.

Renee was starting to go to respiratory therapy to rebuild her lung strength after Christmas.


End file.
